Robert Joseph Harr, U.S. Navy Fireman 1st Class, passed away December 7, 1941 aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma, at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Robert was born on 1916, in Britton, Marshall County, South Dakota the son of Joseph Harrison and Bertha Lee Chewning Harr. His parents returned to the farm near Rutledge, Missouri in December 1943.
On the infamous day of December 7, 1941, Harr was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo impacts, which caused it to capsize quickly and the result was the loss of 429 crewmen including Harr.
He was deemed Missing In Action due to the numbers and the ability to identify the soldiers lost that day. On February 12, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that U.S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Robert J. Harr was accounted for and would be returned home to be Honorably laid to rest next to his parents in Pauline Cemetery in Rutledge, Missouri, after nearly 80 years.
Robert was never married and left his brothers and sisters, Richard Leroy Harr, Delbert Lee Harr, Lemion Roderick Harr, Margaret Harr Smith, Billy Harr, Rodney Harr, and Roger Harr.
Full Military Graveside Honors by the United States Navy, will be at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, August 14, 2021, at the Pauline Cemetery in Rutledge, Missouri.
The Patriot Riders will escort the funeral procession from Doss Funeral Home to the Pauline Cemetery, leaving Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Doss Funeral Home in Edina, MO.